Faith and the Butterfly Effect
by Norificus
Summary: Faith experiences the ‘Butterfly Effect’ when a demon gives her the opportunity to go back in time and change moments of her life that she regrets. But she wasn’t counting on the devastating effects that occured as her reality reconstructs. R&R!
1. A Deal with a Demon

Summary: Faith experiences the 'Butterfly Effect' when a demon gives her the opportunity to go back in time and change moments of her life that she regrets. But she wasn't counting on the devastating effects that occur as her reality reconstructs.

Disclaimer: I don't own these cool people! Faiths prison song is a quote by Dorothy Parker.

A/N: This is set about mid-way Season 6. Hope you all like it!

Faith was sitting by herself in her cell contemplating her life and singing a song to pass the time that she had heard one of the other inmates sing.

_Razors pain you_

_Rivers are damp_

_Acid stains you_

_Drugs cause cramps;_

_Guns aren't lawful _

_Nooses give_

_Gas smells awful_

_Ya might as well __**live**__! _

She said the last line triumphantly with emphasis, half pleased that she remembered the whole damn thing, and half acting as though she was trying to convince herself that her now boring and meaningless life was really worth living. This promptly earned her a glare from the prisoners occupying most of the nearby cells. It's not like prison life was that awful, really. Three squares a day, even a bed to sleep. She'd **definitely** had worse.

It was just the long stretch of time where Faith was all alone with her thoughts and all she had to talk to was herself. She spent most of her days regretting her actions of the past and contemplating what life would have been like if she had chosen her path in life differently. You know, not tried to kill all her friends and all. She sighed and leaned against the wall accepting that it would be hours till any sort of activity would occur to take her away from the constant guilt slowly overtaking her mind.

She was immensely surprised when a deep voice from behind her contradicted that particular thought. "Faith." It said dramatically.

Faith spun round in alarm taking in the sight of the demon before her. He was tall and scaly and red like the devil.

"Who the hell are you?" she asked moodily raising her right fist ready to knock him out, her heart racing for some action.

"Whoa whoa, slow down Slayer." He put his hands up in a gesture of peace. "I'm not here to fight. I have come to offer you something."

Faith scoffed at this. "What could you possibly have to offer me? Other than a **damn** good kill of course." She advanced towards him threateningly.

He ignored her behaviour. "Faith you would be a fool to kill me and lose this offer. I have come to give you the power to change the past. I sense your desire for this." He puffed himself up importantly, like the know-it-all demon that he was.

"Sounds like a trap to me" Faith said glaring at him. "Why would you want to give me anything? Besides I **don't** trust evil demon fiends."

"Have you not learned by now that not all demons are truly evil?" The demon seemed truly offended. "To put it simply I'm as bored as you are and I want to play a little game."

"Yeah whatever." Faith muttered. Life couldn't be any worse than this, she thought. I'd do **anything** right now to get out of my head for a while. "Faith if you accept my challenge you will have the power to change your past, but I can only give you this power if you accept whatever consequences come out of it without complaint."

"Sounds great" Faith said sarcastically, accepting his offer in her own way, barely even considering what these consequences could mean. Faith had been incarcerated so long that it felt good to be reckless for once and to make a spur of the moment decision without thinking it over. It took her only half a second to realize that the thing she wanted most was to be a Scooby again. Fight on the team with Buffy again. Have friends. Have a life. Hell, yeah. That's what she'd been obsessing about for months in prison.

The demon handed her a shiny device and Faith looked at it confused. Before she could unleash a torrent of swear words as to questioning the function of the device, the demon grabbed it back and showed her exactly how to use it. Once Faith understood how it worked the demon disappeared. Faith shrugged and activated it to go back to the moment everything went wrong beyond repair. One of the biggest, most terrifying moments in her life that was **always** on her mind. The moment she killed Allan Finch.


	2. Wicked Reflexes

Faith has barely enough time to take in her surroundings but she realizes with a shock that the device worked and she was back in time, just as it happened the first time around. The smell of the alley, the feel of the stake in her hand was so much more vivid than her constantly replayed memories that it shocked her to her core. She is running alongside a building having just staked a demon belonging to a cult that she can't place the name of right now. And Buffy is right there beside her. But this was **not** one of their happy moments.

"FAITH, NO!" Buffy screamed, startling Faith even though she knew it was coming.

This time **however**, instead of swinging down and plunging the stake into Allen Finch's heart she stopped mere inches from it hitting its mark and with trembling fingers, Faith dropped the stake altogether and let it roll away, stopping by Buffy's foot.

Allen Finch was breathing hard, his face very white.

"Th…that was close" Buffy whispered to Faith coming to stand beside her.

"You have no idea, B." breathed Faith giddy with relief that she had been able to stop herself from making the biggest mistake of her lifetime. Sensing her opportunity to change the past would be over soon she turned to Buffy and said to her seriously. "When I… If ….If I had killed him, B, I would care. And if I said I didn't I would have been bullshitting you. I get that a slayer isn't about being a killer." Faith only barely managed to not add 'now' to the end of her statement cause she wasn't so sure she had understood that **before**.

Buffy looked at her with sympathetic hazel eyes. "I know, Faith. That you'd care, I mean. You may act like a total badass." She smiled weakly trying to lighten the situation. "You're a good person, though. I know you'd care."

For **once** Faith didn't mind showing emotion in front of Buffy. "Thanks, B. That means a more than you'll ever know."

"What?" Buffy said a little confused.

"That you think I'm a good person, or at least you did…do right now." Faith stumbled.

Buffy smiled. "Of course, I do." She said linking her arm through Faiths. "But everything is okay, nothing happened. You got some **'wicked'** reflexes there."

Faith smiled back at Buffy, amused that she had used one of her favourite words and choosing to savour the moment, ignoring how Buffy had so readily believed her when she told her she didn't care about what she'd done the first time around.

Both slayers were startled out of their shared moment by Allen Finch clearing his throat, clearly intent on delivering them some information, despite his scare. Faith could feel history slipping away from her fast and reality catching up. She wondered if when she returned to the present would she **still** be in prison? Would she still have taken the wrong path and ended up incarcerated just like her mother had **always** said she would. Or would things be different. Would she be the good person Buffy said she was? Faith shut her eyes and waited for the world around her to stabilize and return her to her correct moment in time.


	3. Getting Gone

When Faith's vision cleared she realized she was in an apartment, lying in a bed. The sheets were nice, not the cheap ones that she had been using before she went to live with the…No, she told herself firmly. I'm not even sure that happened now. Faith hoped with all her heart that it hadn't happened this time, that her path wasn't just predestined to be one of evil whether she had killed or not. She put her finger to her stomach, feeling for the scar Buffy had once given her and her heart skipped at beat when she found it wasn't there. Rolling over, she noticed that there was a **man** in bed with her with dark hair, and peering down at him she could see he was **very** naked and looking down she realized that she was **very** naked too.

God, she thought, rolling her eyes at herself. Some things **never** change. Here I am in some strangers apartment 'getting some' and probably right about to 'get gone.' She looked around for her clothes and saw a few on the floor that **obviously** wasn't hers.

Definitely too girly, and not a hint of black or leather in sight. Almost bordering on Buffy's style, she decided. But obviously they would have to do. Last thing she wanted to do right now was walk out into the street naked and get arrested **again**. Be right back where I started if that happened, she muttered to herself. She tried to slip out of the bed quickly and quietly but in doing so she aroused the attention of the man in bed with her.

"Faith, hey." he said groggily and tried to wrap an arm around her and pull her back to the position she had first awakened in. As he did so he rolled over and for the first time Faith was able to see his face.

"XANDER?" Faith yelped horrified and disgusted. He was so much older than the teenage boy she had used that one night. What? Was he her bed-buddy now? Or more? Faith shuddered at the thought. Everything she knew about Xander told her that he wasn't up for a friends-with-benefits kind of arrangement. Even if he had made that mistake **once**, Faith knew he was very unlikely to make it again. Sure, she liked Xander and all, he was a funny guy but right now he was suffocating her, wrapping his arms round her and acting like it was the most normal thing in the world.

"Come on Faith, lets catch a few more zzz's." He murmured in her ear. "You have got to be tired. You sure gave me a run for my money last night…or was it this morning." His face scrunched up considering this. "But then again you do that every night, and I'm not ashamed to admit it cause you're **the** slayer with energizer-bunny-like sex power and I'm just average old Xander Harris who caught a lucky break and now gets to do **it** with you every night."

By now, Faith was feeling intimidated enough to consider throwing him across the room but her curiosity got the better of her. "Uh Xander," she whispered trying not to choke as she said his name, "How did we get together?"

"Ah, my favourite bedtime story." He turned to face her and smiled and his voice took on a story-telling sort of tone. "Well, first there was a boy who kept stalking this really hot girl who pretended to be bad, but was actually a great leader and really sweet."

Faith managed to edge away from his a bit thoroughly disliking the word 'sweet' especially in any description of her. "Go on, then." She whispered.

"And the boy," Xander continued on, "Knew that the really hot girl was the one for him, on account of her knowledge of every X-men comic published to date and having mad skills at video games…and maybe also cause she was his hero for constantly saving his ass." He admitted. "He chased her for years and I guess she finally got used to having him around." He smiled at her. "I love you Faith." He bent down and tried to kiss her, but she pulled away like he was burning her. He looked hurt and confused, but not as confused as Faith herself was feeling. Eventually, he relaxed and seemed to decide her strange behaviour was caused by a lack of sleep.

"But seriously, Faith, we have to get up soon. Giles is expecting you at the crack of dawn, remember? Some special 'Faith only' mission meeting. Man, I hate when you have to go on those. I hate not being able to be out there, backing you up as best I can."

"Is….isn't B coming?" Faith played along. "She could…uh… back me up."

"WHAT? You're joking right?" Xander didn't seem at all amused. "In her condition? No way. We need you. Our big gun. To kill whatever nasties have made their nest here."

"Her…condition?" Faith restated, her face crinkling with worry.

"Yeah." Xanders face darkened. "When she accidentally fell off that tower the night, trying to save your sister. I guess landing on that ledge halfway down was pretty lucky otherwise she probably wouldn't be still here at all. And that 8 month coma, god." He looked troubled.

"SISTER?" Faith stared at him with an open mouth. Xander slapped her gently.

"Yeah Einstein." His voice took on a fairly accurate imitation of the Monks. "We made it human, and sent it to you. You, Faith. The active chosen one. Ringing any bells?" He scratched his head trying to remember something. "Hey, you said you would go over to Buffy's house after the Scooby meeting and take care of Buffy for a while, didn't you? Her mums going out so you said you'd come Thursday as well this week instead of every day but?"

Faith was practically speechless, and Xander, reading her better than she would admit hurriedly went on to reassure her. "Faith we've been over this, its not your fault, okay?"

"I…its not?" She asked confused. What **wasn't** her fault?

"No way. Everyone understands how your priority was Dawn. You thought Buffy could handle herself against Doc. Two slayers fighting, you guys were like unstoppable that night. You got to Dawn before the ritual had even started, and got her to safety, and Doc got in one lucky shot, knocking Buffy over the edge. It wasn't your fault, you couldn't have known." He sighed. "Maybe if Buffy had been training more instead of focusing completely on studying…things would have been different. She got pretty obsessed with getting her 'normal life' back there for a while, and leaving the slaying to you." He paused. "Actually, I have this theory, that none of this would have happened to Buffy or Dawn in the first place if Glory hadn't stolen Tara's brain, Tara would have never have given away that Dawn was the key and then the whole ritual-on-the-tower business might have been avoided."

All this was way too much for Faith to take. She **had** to see Buffy now, and see what **she** had done to her. Maybe Xander was making it up, she thought wildly. She launched herself out of bed and grabbed the Buffy-like clothes off the floor.

"Why are you wearing yesterdays clothes again?" Xander asked her.

"Fashion statement." She said ignoring him and forgetting to be disgusted with the fact that they were actually hers.

"That's my crazy girl." He said as Faith pulled the clothes on as fast as humanly possible. "Hey, spend some time with Dawnie today, as well." Xander advised. "She keeps saying how you are always busy, and left her to live at Casa de Summers because you don't want to spend time with her. I set her straight of course. Its no lie, our tiny apartment is **no** place for a kid to grow up. She adores you, Faith. You should share with her details of patrol or something so at least she **knows** what you have to abandon her for."

"Yeah whatever." Faith muttered, pulling on some shoes and running for the door, unable to think of anything else but getting to Buffy's as fast as possible.

She was so weirded out by the Faith-in-a-**real**-relationship-with-Xander thing. She mightn't have minded it, even been able to accept it as a potential good thing, if Buffy was alright. After all, everything **else** was exactly as she wanted it. She had a nice place, she was part of the Scooby gang again just the way she had dreamed of being. Everything was right, except Buffy. As another wave of fear shot through her, she picked up speed and ran the whole way at slayer speed to Buffy's house.

_Reviews, alerts and favourites. Oh my! _

_I got way more than I was expecting so I put this chapter up for you guys super fast. I don't want to kill you all with the suspense, lol. _


	4. Pleasantville?

_Haha nobody panic! This is so not a Faith/Xander story. She was just as horrified as you guys were to wake up in bed with him. I'm with you all on the eww. But everything's meant to be all mixed up. This story is really about changing events that were supposed to occur in the natural order of things and the __**weird**__-apocalyptic-but-still-possible events (that never would have happened otherwise) that follow as a result. One of them being love and gross SEX with Xander. And maybe eventually the end of the world? We will see… _

_Oh, and thanks to the person who suggested opening up my reviews to allow anonymous ones, I didn't know about that before, being new here and all . :)_

Buffy's house was brightly lit with a 'Pleasantville' sort of atmosphere practically oozing from it that still couldn't mask the fact that its occupants were trying **more** than a little bit too hard to make like everything is normal and everyone inside is happy. As she opened the door, she notices railing has been installed on the walls contradicting her desperately optimistic idea's that Xander was lying to her about Buffy. The place is cleaner than she remembered it, not that she had been invited in all that **often**, yet it was still lived in with schoolbooks strewn everywhere. Craft projects which were childish and largely unfinished, like the person who had been making them had become bored of them after a very short time littered the living room. Faith couldn't help but stare at the changes made to the Summers residence, unable to decide whether to believe the cheery exterior fantasy, but too afraid to consider what truths were being so carefully hidden.

Joyce came bustling in with a bright smile and a tray of freshly baked cookies. "Just in time for a snack." She said warmly as a manner of greeting Faith.

As far as Faith knew, Joyce was dead. That's what Angel had said anyway on one afternoon when he had come to visit her on his way back from Sunnydale, brooding and miserable as ever from seeing Buffy again.

Faith realized she had better say something. "Uh…Joyce…hi. How are you?" she said to her lamely, half believing she was talking to a ghost.

"Much better!" Joyce answered. "And I really can't thank you enough for all you've done for me…and Buffy. I know I got angry at you so much last year for always waiting round our house waiting for Buffy to show up so you could take her slaying and **away** from her studies. But you disobeying me **saved** my life." Joyce chuckled. "Disobey me anytime you like Faith, seriously. The doctors reminded me again at my appointment yesterday that if you hadn't been waiting around and hadn't come to help right when you did and rushed me to hospital, it could have been fatal." Joyce came to stand beside Faith and put an arm around her. "Sorry I've been such a broken record about this, but I owe you everything, Faith really." Joyce beamed and offered Faith a cookie, which she accepted with shaky hands feeling like an ass for taking all this praise for something she really didn't do. It was hard for her to put together the idea that the person Joyce was talking about was **actually** her. Right now, she was viewing that girl like a completely different Faith even though she knew it was really just a less crazy her, with a few good supportive friends., and a…Xander. Her thoughts began to wander back to this morning. Faith wondered how she was going to get rid of him. She didn't think it would end well since her best idea right now was to just say 'Hey Xander. Get out. **Now**, or I'll kick your ass." Maybe if the demon updated her brain to be more like the Faith who was used to living this way, she would have something a little less 'psycho bitch' to say.

Interrupting Faith's thoughts was Dawn who came bounding down the stairs and catapulted herself into Faith's arms squealing. "Faith! I'm missed you so much!"

Joyce ruffled Dawn's hair affectionately. "Now Dawn, don't deafen us dear." She turned to Faith. "It's a pleasure to have her here though despite the loud pop music that our stereo always seems to play now, she's actually a **great** help."

Faith was glad that Dawn had ended up living with Joyce. Hell if **she** knew how to take care of a kid. Faith's version of mothering was dismal compared to the way Joyce was obviously raising Dawn. She uttered an edited version of this thought aloud.

"Faith, honey! You don't give yourself enough credit." Joyce said sternly wiggling one of her fingers in mock disapproval.

Ignoring them, Dawn began talking excitedly about all her latest achievements and as Faith watched her she began thinking that having a sister…a family… wouldn't be so bad. She'd always liked Dawn. And even though she had taken Buffy's biological connection to her, in the way things had turned out. At least she had given her back her mother. The thought of having a family was such a powerful one to Faith, that she was overcome by her own self involved thoughts, forgetting about Buffy for the moment. Faith smiled and feeling happier than she had in a long time, picked the giggling Dawn up and gave her a piggyback ride round the room, in what she hoped was her usual slayer-to-little-sister manner, while Joyce watched them smiling. Overpowered again, by a new wave of optimism she again, begun to believe Xander had exaggerated. Stupid old Xander right? B's **got** to be okay, Faith thought letting the atmosphere **completely** take her over.

Her mood was shattered when Buffy, who seemed to be the only willingly truthful dark presence of the house, wheeled herself into the living room attached to a cloud of gloom.

"Faith, you're here." Buffy said brightening only slightly.

"I'm glad you were free today, Faith." Dawn said. "Buffy always seems happiest when you're here. And **me** too." She added.

Faith was paling visibly at the sight of her, her mouth dropping open. "B…I…God…I…" she stuttered still holding Dawn on her back. "What? Your…hurt?...I."

"That's **not** funny Faith." Dawn said slowly, sliding down and moving to Buffy's side protectively, mistaking Faith's confusion for a put-on sick joke. It was obvious how much she cared for Buffy.

Buffy was covered from head to toe in scars, with a couple of lone casts obviously still trying to heal the worst of her fractured bones. Slayer healing seemed to be working slowly on her arms and upper body, but her legs looked to be completely useless, just hanging down from her wheelchair and wasting away. One of her arms had enough mobility but only just barely enough strength, to slowly and jerkily move her wheelchair closer to Faith. Faith noticed her hair was all at odd lengths, probably as a result of doctors having to shave parts of it during surgery to a head wound.

Her face peered out from a single bandage that seemed more likely to be about hiding some of her facial scarring, than about healing anything revealed her hazel which were dripping hot tears at Faith's words which had sounded so inconsiderate to Dawn, but really were **anything** but. Buffy tried clumsily to brush them away and failed, her lack of smooth mobility showing.

Faith just stared in horror at the fallen hero, helpless and afraid and **paralyzed** from a fall that was more or less Faith's own fault. The misery surrounding Buffy ran so deep that Faith, despite her own difficult life that she had experienced, could not hope to touch it and understand what Buffy could be feeling right now.

"Now, Buffy. None of **that** today." Joyce said cheerfully reentering the room and acting as if Buffy crying was a normal thing, worthy of ignoring.

Joyce frowned. "Faith you're a little early today, but you're here to take Buffy for her walk aren't you? And take care of her till I get home? I wouldn't have asked since you do so much for us already but I really have to go out till late today, and you're the only one I trust her with alone."

"Yes…Mrs S." Faith said numbly her voice shaking slightly and her eyes never leaving Buffy's.

"Alright, well you know the rules, make sure you are home before the sun sets. You know how she gets. No dangerous activities. Oh, sorry, I forgot who I was talking to. You'd never dream of doing **anything** dangerous. " Joyce winked and came over to give Buffy a kiss, then moving forward to give a very embarrassed Faith one.

Faith touched the spot where Joyce had kissed her feeling conflicted, like she was undeserving of any kindness or affection. But she craved this kind of motherly love.

Dawn hugged Faith goodbye too. "See you, Big Sis." She turned and addressed Buffy, "And pretend Big Sis." She added smiling at her.

"Later, Little D." Faith said automatically and wondered if she had retrieved that nickname from the 'normal Faith's' mind. Pushing that out of her mind and desperate to get Dawn off to school quicker so she could talk to Buffy, she promised to spend more time with her and train her or something another day.

As soon as they left, Faith wheeled the crying Buffy out of the house, at this moment willing to do absolutely **anything** to make her happy. Faith began to walk around the block in silence the only sounds heard was Buffy's wheelchair grinding into the pavement and making a slight creaking noise and the sound of Buffy's short intakes of breath and occasional sobs, that resounded in Faith's ears quiet to the average passerby but deafening to Faith's ears.


	5. Selfless

"I want…to go…to the cemetery." Buffy said so softly that Faith had to strain to hear her. It was the longest sentence she had spoken **all** day. It was nearly sundown now, and they had spent most of the day walking round the block, coming back for a few hours and then going back out again at Buffy's breathless request, with Faith racking her brains about what to do and Buffy deeply submerged in her own world. It was clear to Faith as she watched her that Buffy hated being cooped up inside her home. The whole atmosphere Joyce had created to try and make things better had backfired and only served to alienate Buffy **more** from her surroundings and she had begin to detest even the sight of the house. Faith had no idea if Buffy was usually more talkative with her or if she had sensed there was something 'off' about Faith today and was afraid to talk to her. Faith thought depreciatingly that she wouldn't even blame her for being scared **of** her. After all, Faith had been no Rebecca of Sunnybrook farm to start with…and after this she didn't know **what** she thought of herself anymore

"Pretty sure that's on Joyce's list of dangerous activities, B." Faith answered her, hating that she had to treat her like a child and hating even more that Buffy seemed to be used to it.

"Please, Faith?" Buffy asked weakly.

The pleading sound to her voice scared Faith who had never seen Buffy this way before, and pausing in the middle of the sidewalk she knelt down and took Buffy's hands as gently as she possibly could, looking into her eyes which were brimming with unshed tears.

Buffy's bottom lip was quivering with the effort not to cry. "You're the only one who understands me Faith…What it's like for me now. You don't treat me any different usually. Please don't start now."

Faith fought back a gasp of surprise. Up until that moment she had thought that Buffy might have struck her head hard enough in the fall to have sustained injuries that left her mentally challenged. Apart from the act of crying, Buffy had shown almost no signs of 'being alive' in the 9 or so hours she had spent with her so she had assumed the worst. Faith couldn't understand why Buffy would have been so trusting with her otherwise even seeming to look up to her, unless she hadn't been aware she was doing so.

Buffy was still talking fast. "You're my best friend. You have been for like…forever now. I need you, Faith."

This was too much for Faith whose guilt was overpowering her and threatening to swallow her whole. She grasped Buffy's hands far more roughly than she intended to. "I'm so sorry, B. For all **this** and more." she said to her miserably, gesturing to her broken body.

Buffy face registered confusion. "It's not your fault, Faith. It's mine. If I wasn't so stupid and focused on being 'the slayer that got to have an almost normal life' then

I would have been strong enough to…" Buffy's voice trailed off. "You're the strong one, Faith, I wish I could be more like you."

"But you are, Buffy." Faith said incredulously. "I'm the screw up. You've always been the 'good' slayer. I…**should** be in jail for gods sake!" Faith wiped away one of Buffy's ever falling tears.

Buffy seemed to miss most of Faith's outburst. "No…no…they don't need me anymore. You're the only slayer now. You're what the world needs and I'm just holding you back."

"B…B…don't say that okay? You can't talk like that." Faith said to her, near tears herself and then told Buffy probably the most heartfelt thing she had ever told another person. "Its all **you**, ok? I'm sorry I hated you for it. But there's a reason you're the one everybody loves and wants to be with. There's never going to be anyone but you. Any good I've done, is because you helped me. You're the selfless one."

Buffy's raised her voiced "No, Faith you are. You had so many awful things happen to you before you came to Sunnydale yet you never asked for help. **You** were strong enough to hang on all that time until we finally had enough sense to force it on you. Until we got you out of that awful motel and we made more of an effort to include you in the gang, anything could have happened. You seemed so reckless and unstable. But then you turned it all around, you… you're the one everyone turns to. When I…the Parker thing. And Riley. You were right there being my best friend, taking me out and getting me drunk but still making sure I got home safely without my mom catching us." Buffy smiled at the memory. "But everyone else was too busy with their own lives. And now…I get that it's too hard for them to see me this way. I understand that's why they never visit, putting all their time into helping Giles research ways to destroy the demon population… but that doesn't mean it doesn't hurt." Buffy's smile faded. "I'm so glad to have you in my life…You…you make things better. **You** help me make the best of things."

For a moment, Faith's heart soared at Buffy's words. Maybe…underneath it all she **was** a good person. It was true that as soon as everyone else had **thought** she was bad, that had been the way she had acted. But here, everybody seemed to love her because she wasn't a killer, she hadn't gone too far, so she had apparently acted like a hero.

As quickly as she thought this the reality of **why** she was here brought her right back down again. A good person would do something about **this**. Faith looked over at Buffy who seemed completely spent from their conversation.

"B… I can't just take your life this way. It isn't right. And I…I care too much about you. I'm going to fix this okay." Faith felt for the moment altering device in her pocket and found it was still there. She just had to figure out **how** to use it.

Buffy slumped back in her wheelchair exhausted, and seemed slightly comforted by Faith's words although it was doubtful she comprehended them properly.

Finally, Faith stood up and began wheeling Buffy home. It was starting to get dark. As Faith wheeled her through the door, Buffy stiffened and became quiet, stifled by the environment. Mrs Summers appeared and seeing both her girls, smiled and invited Faith to stay for dinner and for the night. After some persuasion, Faith accepted and Joyce and Dawn talked animatedly as they helped Buffy with her dinner. One thing Faith had missed over the years was definitely Joyce's cooking and Mrs Summers appeared to enjoy watching Faith scarf it down as though the only food she'd had for years was …prison food. After dinner, Dawn brought Buffy upstairs and Faith was about to follow but Joyce stopped her. "Honestly, Faith. I really worry about Buffy sometimes. Okay, **all** the time." Joyce admitted. "She seems so down, like she doesn't want to be… here. Imagine if she never walks again." Joyce teared up. "You're our only hope, Faith. I know that you will keep her safe."

"You're right Mrs S." Faith said seriously. "I'll work out a way to keep her safe."

Mrs Summers nodded at Faith reassured, and kissed her goodnight. When Faith finally made it upstairs, Buffy was already dressed for bed and Dawn handed Faith some clothes that Faith had 'left here the other night' Faith could hardly believe they were hers as she put them on, but Dawn's face showed no sign of having played a joke on her. Telling Buffy that she was going to go sleep on the couch, Dawn rolled her eyes from the doorway and asked Faith if she had hit her head and forgotten **what** a sleepover was. Faith almost told her that she had **never** been invited to one so that was completely possible. Dawn then went through the rules of sleepovers on her way out insisting that they must stay up talking till midnight **at** **least**. Eventually understanding Dawn logic, Faith lay on the bed beside Buffy and stared at all the casts which were slowly healing her broken bones, realizing that the writing on them looked very much like her own.

"Hey…" she said softly to Buffy, moving closer so they were shoulder to shoulder. "That's from me?" she asked tracing the slightly blurred letters. "You'll be 5 x 5 soon, you'll see!" she read aloud with some difficulty. In different colours there were hearts with stakes pointing to them and drawings of Xander and Dawn and vampires doing stupid things. Faith pointed at a cross-dressing vampire with a goofy expression and Buffy smiled at her. Faith felt like she had never been closer to Buffy before now.

"Night, my best friend." Buffy said closing her eyes and curling up beside Faith.

"Night, B." Faith replied with a lump in her throat that was only intensified by what Buffy said next.

"Love you." Buffy said sleepily.

Faith choked. "I...I…I…I love you too." Faith finally managed, realizing how true it was.

She had her wish. All she had ever wanted was Buffy's friendship and love and now she had it for the wrong reasons. Would she be able to keep it as she changed another moment?

"I'll protect you B, I'll fix this." Faith chanted her voice lulling Buffy off to sleep. Finally working out a plan and getting the nerve to carry it out she pulled out the device.

"Don't worry, B. This will all be over soon." She said to her as the magic kicked into gear and Faith hoped it would send her where she desired to be - up on the tower with Dawn, Buffy and Doc where Buffy's accident had taken place.


	6. Rewind

_I just want to say thank you for everyone who has been reviewing. It seriously gives me a happy every time I see a new one come up and I really appreciate it... _

_And to answer some of Dontia's questions, Willow and Tara would still be together in this new world. They found each other without any slayer influence and their relationship was separate from everybody else's business for such a long time so I think the butterfly effect would bypass them. Oh, and as much as I like Anya, she's long gone. She could only take so much of 'puny mortal Xander' and his puppy dog eyes at Faith so she never went to prom with him or came back after the ascension. _

* * *

"B!" Faith yelled her vision foggy. Faith had been sent to the rewind moment that in **her** opinion was essential to fixing things, changing them to make things better, but was she already too late? Finally, Faith made out the three figures standing in front of her. The scene was **not** exactly as she had imagined it and it took her more time than she **had** to get her bearings. She realized that she was now more likely to fall and break something than Buffy was, as Buffy had at least had time to give a once over glance at the structure of the tower as she climbed it, whereas Faith as she remembered it, had never been here before. Being deposited on the top of the tower, she had no idea what was below it and where she would be safe to stand. Hell, right now she could hardly see at all. The magic must be weakening, maybe it had been meant to be a one-time use, as it felt like both the old and new realities were blurring together, not giving Faith a clear picture of her surroundings.

But as if she would let a little thing like **that** stop her. She flew into action and ran to Buffy's side, desperate to stop the accident from occurring. The moment Faith came for was happening now. Buffy was overbalancing and leaning back precariously close to the edge with an incredibly frightened look on her face. Faith immediately ignored Dawn and Doc and grabbed Buffy, pulling her to safely and spying a lower level of the tower, led her to it quickly. But there was **no** time to celebrate and Faith didn't believe it could be that easy.

"I'll take care of everything." Faith yelled, determined nothing would happen to her. "You check on…uh… Willow! Willow needs help" she babbled.

About to fiercely disagree with her and get back into the fray and help, Buffy saw Dawn momentarily escape Docs clutches as Doc was watching the slayers with enough curiously to let his guard down. However, Dawn was still unable to fight with her wrists tied together

"Faith!" Buffy called from her position below her and pointed intending on alerting Faith to Dawns presence so she could get her to safety too.

Faith whirled around and began untying Dawn just as Doc's fists slammed into her skull.

"Ugh!" Faith moaned, it was a very hard hit. Faith's concentration wasn't as it **usually** was after all she had been through, so when she swung back enraged, her fist barely connected with its target. Laughing Doc punched her hard in the ribs and Faith fell backward from the impact connecting with Dawns shoulder. Dawn stumbled clawing at nothing and was knocked violently off balance too. Being a slayer, Faith was able to regain he balance far more easily than the younger Dawn who tripped and staggered, back similar to the way Buffy had before.

Her eyes wide, Buffy screamed but was unable to do anything from where she was standing. "DAWN! NO!" Buffy was frantic.

As Dawn fell backwards over the edge, Faith lunged and tried to grab her and only came back with air. Dawn tumbled down, unplanned and ungracefully till Faith and Buffy couldn't see her anymore.

Unable to believe what had just happened, Faith fell to her knees, aware of Buffy below her sobbing.

"I don't lose my friends." Buffy was saying over and over. "How could this…this wasn't supposed to happen."

Faith couldn't have found the words to agree with her if she'd tried, she was too choked with emotion, and a cold feeling of dread had come over her. Dawn didn't have slayer healing. It was unlikely she would survive the same fall Buffy had. As dread became rage Faith saw red and an angry animalistic side of her that she had worked so hard to repress came bubbling up and she tackled Doc to the ground intent on killing him as much as possible for the remainder of the time she had left. She was violent and vicious, tearing him to shreds. He was practically powerless to defend himself against this kind of slayer fury. Faith had not done nearly enough damage in her opinion, despite the fact he was now in bloody pieces of demon flesh, when the world went back signaling that her time in this moment was up.


	7. Déjà Vu

_You guessed right, Ryoko05!_

_I'm glad I'm getting people interested in this…:) _

_I was up till like 2am determined to finish this update, so I hope I didn't miss any spelling errors. Enjoy!_

* * *

Faith returned to the present day furious and disoriented, barely aware that accelerated time had moved her miles aware from the source of her aggression. She was lashing out at anything in front of her, too devastated to comprehend her actions. Someone was hitting her back, though unlike Faith's clumsy uncalculated blows, the person she was fighting moved with precision and accuracy, striking Faith back twice as hard. There was an air of regret surrounding Faith's attacker and a sense that his or her potential to fight was being held back.

It was an all too familiar scene Faith realized with a shock as she regained her senses. The person fighting Faith was Buffy, who had succeeded in pinning her down and had a knife raised and positioned over Faith's heart. The only thing stopping the knife from piercing her skin was Faith's shaking hand that had shot up to catch Buffy's wrist out of primal self preservation. Faith's other hand was wrapped around Buffy's neck in an iron tight grip. Although Faith couldn't remember it was clear that they had been fighting for a long time and Faith had got in **more** than a few good blows. Buffy had an enormous bruise forming fast on her cheek and her eyes were cold and hard, staring down Faith like she was a demon she had just hunted down on patrol.

As soon as Faith realized what she was doing, she immediately slackened her hold on Buffy's neck and then let go completely, letting her arm fall to her side and she tried in vain to wriggle away. Buffy seemed surprised but did not trust her enough to let her go, yet her eyes softened a little upon seeing Faith's expression. Faith's eyes were wide and she seemed frightened and confused.

"Its…**not** meant to be like this…I didn't mean…what did I do?" Faith asked regretfully somehow already knowing the answer.

Buffy didn't say anything for the longest time, but eventually she lowered the knife and stood up. She didn't want to kill Faith, but to her they had argued like they did nearly every night and things had gone too far this time.

"I know it's not meant to be like this Faith, I don't want things to end this way either after everything we've been through." She said hesitantly. "Look, I know you're in a world of pain. The Dawn thing was intense, none of us thought that is would happen but get this, **nobody** blames you."

"You don't?" Faith whispered interrupting.

Buffy wasn't finished. "Of course not." Buffy said seriously. "I'm so sorry it seemed like we did at first but we can't change that now." Her face changed. "And **you** can't change all the things that **you** have done.

Faith had been listening, getting a sense of déjà vu at Buffy's words. She knew she should just leave it there, but she had to know. "What…do you mean exactly…?" she started to say.

"Don't play dumb with me, Faith!" Buffy spat angrily. "You know **exactly** what I mean. The past couple of months with you, all you've been doing is killing. It **started** with any demons who had been even remotely connected to Glory, then the Knights of Byzanthium and their families which wasn't right because they were **HUMAN** but at least I could understand where you were coming from. But now it's just **ANYONE** who gets in your way." Buffy yelled. "And the sleeping with **Spike**. I mean, what **kind** of person sleeps with a soulless creature like that? I knew you got off on danger but…this is too much." Buffy started pacing up and down. "And how could you say such horrible things to my mother, when she cares about you so much?" Buffy cried. "As for me, you **used** me and you **lied** to me. I helped you set that building on fire because I **THOUGHT** it was **full** of **vampires**. You know, the things we are **actually** meant to slay? I'm not going to help you cover your tracks anymore, we have to tell Giles. I used to know the difference between doing what is right and wrong, but I've been helping you so long I don't have that anymore." Buffy's voice broke. "You were my best friend. How could you take so much away from me?"

"B…I'm so sorry." Faith said knowing that it wasn't enough. It wouldn't be even if she said it thousands of times.

Buffy let the knife fall to the floor, hit by the reality of what she could have done. "Faith, I love you. But you have to get out of my house….and **never** come back. I can't be around you, not after all you've done. You're scaring me. Since that night, you've been acting crazy. You've been more unstable than I've ever seen you before. Go now...before something **else** happens." Buffy said tearfully pushing Faith out the door, saying the words that hurt Faith most of all. "You're not one of us anymore."

Faith stood staring at Buffy's door trying to comprehend all that had just happened. She had gone from worshipped hero, to scum of the earth all in a matter of minutes by her timing. Her only consolation was that Buffy was back on her feet and seemed stronger than ever judging by the power of her blows to Faith's head. She was far from the crippled girl she had encountered just before. But Dawnie…

Dawn was dead, I **killed** her. The thought sickened her.

It didn't surprise her too much that in this reality she had eventually gone mad with guilt and grief. Killing Dawn, even by accident was far worse than killing Allan Finch.

It had been her **sister**; a person as far as she knew had loved very much. She would have had to look into the accusing eyes of those who loved Dawn too everyday. There would have been no burying it in her mind with denial to get through it like she had done before.

Defeated, Faith trudged down the street with her shoulders slumped intent on finding a place to hide out and disappear for awhile. She checked the apartment that she had recently found herself living in with Xander. She was hardly surprised to find it completely empty. She was both saddened and relieved by this at the same time. Relieved, as she would have had to get rid of him anyway, and saddened because she guessed that she had decided to get as far as her could from her, and she knew that he would have been a great friend to her at least. Had she lost everybody? Was there anyone in this altered version of reality on her side? She couldn't lie to herself – if Buffy didn't trust her then **nothing** else mattered. Faith valued Buffy's opinion more than anyone's. She was the one person Faith looked up to and wanted more than anything to be like.

Hearing footsteps behind her, Faith didn't turn or care when whoever it was had backed her into an alley. Her sense of preservation kicked in however when she saw it was an army of ten tough looking biker vampires in leather jackets. With no stake or fighting spirit she felt defenseless. As the vampires completely surrounded her and taunted her with cold yellow-eyed predatory glares, she reached into her pocked and found the only thing she had with her was the moment altering device. Knowing that it was her only way to come out of this alive she thought wildly fumbling through the crevices of her mind, desperately trying to find a solution. Then it came to her- the way to end this nightmare was to change the moment when it **really **began. Xander's words spoken in almost another life came back to her.

"_Actually, I have this theory, that none of this would have happened to Buffy or Dawn in the first place if Glory hadn't stolen Tara's brain, Tara would have never have given away that Dawn was the key and then the whole ritual-on-the-tower business might have been avoided."_

Faith had got it so **wrong** before, trying to change an event already in motion. The way to fix this was to make sure Dawn **never** got captured. As a vampire…or seven advanced on her neck. Faith reached down and felt for the device, making her decision. She was going to the moment when Tara got her brain sucked away. Faith let the device take her away from danger and into the past. She sure **hoped** it was the right choice.


	8. Hide and Seek

UnrestrictedParadise: Don't worry, no danger of it ending like the movie- I haven't actually seen the movie in years which I figured was good because I didn't want to copy it. I can't promise a happy ending, I did list the fic under 'tragedy' lol. But it won't be anywhere near as tragic as dying before being born. :)

Faithless-7: Haha! I find Spike/Faith less gross than Xander/Faith though. At least Spike wouldn't try to be romantic or anything – he'd just accept he's an every now and then 'get some get gone' victim.

Ryoko05: I vaguely remember in the movie the guy redid moments at least 5(?) times… Maybe Faith will be smarter and have learnt her lesson after 3 times :)

And thanks to Jax, missingviolet and whybenormal93 for your loyal reviewing :)

* * *

Judging by where she landed, Faith immediately knew that the device's magic was weakening, which scared her more than anything. Despite all the trouble using it had caused, she was still convinced that it was her only hope. She was standing on a roof, at least a block from the Sunnydale World Culture Fair and she couldn't see Tara from where she was. Shimmying down as fast as she could and seeing Willow walking to the fair slightly ahead of her, Faith panicked and began to run, knowing that Willow would get there too **late** to do anything and the same thing would happen to Faith if she didn't move fast. Faith ran faster and faster using all of her slayer strength and exhausting herself, **flying** past Buffy who was out for a walk going in the opposite direction.

Buffy smiled and waved at her and when Faith did not slow down or even acknowledge that she had seen her, Buffy turned around and took off after her. Buffy had seen the desperate look on Faith's face and was determined to catch her and find out what was wrong with her best friend. Buffy followed quickly, catching up to Faith with some difficultly. Buffy had never seen Faith move so fast before, but before she could ask her what was going on, she saw what Faith had found who she was looking for and Buffy skidded to a stop beside her to stare at the sight.

It was Tara, sitting on a bench and holding hands with Glory. She had a pained look on her face and the slayers could see that Glory was squeezing her hand tight enough to break her bones. Faith surprised Glory, who was obviously not expecting anyone to be clueless enough to attack her, with a punch. Pulling Tara away from Glory's hold she pushed her hard in Willow's direction who was still a couple of metres away coming towards them.

"WHAT? How dare you, Leather Bitch! I **wanted** that brain." Glory complained rolling her eyes like this was all such a bother for her and she grabbed one of Faith's arms.

"Run Tara… Buffy. Go!" Faith urged. Tara didn't have to be told twice and nursing her injured hand she fled, meeting Willow halfway to the scene and out of concern for Tara's hand, Willow went after her.

Buffy however stood fast. "I won't leave you here, Faith. Don't even try."

Faith however had no time to appreciate that in this moment, nothing had happened yet to make Buffy hate her like she had in their last confrontation, and that she cared enough to stay and try to save her from Glory.

"Aww, now isn't that sweet." crooned Glory. "Well, Leather Bitch." She gestured to Faith. "You have taken two things that belong to me. One was obviously that **BRAIN**. And the other one is **MY KEY**. So guess what? She asked cheerfully. "Okay I'll just tell you. I'm going to take something of **YOURS**."

In one fluid movement, Glory dropped Faith and moved to where Buffy stood, and before Faith could react Glory was draining her brain. Gleefully, she overpowered the weaponless slayer with the strength of a god. Buffy and Faith gasped as a bright light escaped from Buffy's head, shining in their eyes brightly.

Glory was delighted. "Man, that was some brain! Warm and brave and…righteous. Mmm… Hard to find. Need more like that one. But, I suppose I'll into withdrawal for slayer brains if I have them **both** at once. So I'm going to cut you a break this time, Bitch. I'll count to ten and you can run and hide and I'll just take my time to find you again see?"

Glory seemed pleased with her plan, but Faith was hardly listening and could only stare at Buffy who was looking around without recognition, her expression slack and unanimated. Faith knew she had failed her again. She was only dimly aware of Glory starting her count.

"Run away now." Glory said impatiently. Faith didn't move. What was the point? She could feel her world crashing down on her and darkening as the device prepared to take her to the present moment.

"Three…Four…" Glory continued, falling quiet as Buffy spoke up in a dull monotone.

"Dawn is the key. The key must be severed." Buffy said, clearly affected by Glory's mind linking power and unable to say anything else.

Clapping her hands Glory cried "Oho. My key is that little squirt? The slayers sister? You two slayer kiddies are so useful!" Grinning at Faith's horrified expression she patted Buffy's head.

The last thing Faith heard was Glory announcing gleefully. "Now everything can finally change!" There was no denying it, Faith was **terrified**.


	9. Apocalypse, Now

_I'm almost at the end of this now, just a few more chapters :)_

_Poor Faith, the next story I write with her in it will definately be a happy one_

* * *

Faith was lying face down on a hard surface. She felt heavy and slow, like someone had drugged her. She was bound and gagged and curled up in the fetal position. Opening her eyes she only found darkness, so she focused her efforts on working the gag from her mouth. Was this some less humane prison she had been sent to? The one in LA was a 5-star hotel compared to this one. She looked around for other inmates and as her eyes became accustomed to the dark she spotted other people, all of them far worse off than she was.

Among them was Xander, almost unrecognizable with his eyes completely gouged out, his face bloody with more than a few teeth missing.

"So they finally caught **you**, huh?" he rasped. "Took them long enough. Heard you put up quite a **chase**. I don't think Glory intended to let you run around as long as you did."

"Xander, where are we?" Faith whispered, finding that it hurt to talk.

"We're in hell." Xander said glumly. "Well, pretty much. All dimensions are the same now, and trust me there's plenty of hell going round."

Faith looked confused, she hadn't been expecting **this**. "Xander? How, I don't understand? How could this happen. **Where** are we?" Faith expected Xander to yell at her for her confusion like Buffy had, but he seemed too spent for that.

"Geez Faith, they must have hit your head pretty hard. Guess I got nothing better to do than fill you in." He gestured to the partially decomposing bodies all around them littering the cell. The smell was awful. ""They got captured first." Xander said, following her gaze. "Glory's got a lot of friends in other dimensions who were more than happy to come here and reign hell with her. They capture us, eat our brains and some of us they put to work, but mostly they just leave us here to rot.

Faith's eyebrows knitted together in disbelief, none of this was making sense to her right now. "I'm dreaming." She said. "This is a dream. This is impossible."

"No Faith." Xander looked grimly at her with his one eye. "This is the new world. This is your life." He gestured to Buffy sitting beside him.

"B!" Faith cried. Buffy just stared vacantly away.

"We protected her as long as we could, but Glory's army was too strong for us and overpowered us all." Still seeing the confusion on Faith's face, Xander decided to elaborate. "I'll refresh your memory a bit. After Glory took Buffy's brain, Buffy revealed that Dawn was the key leading Glory and her minions to Dawn immediately. Buffy took off, defenseless and braindead and you spent the afternoon trying to find her. Willow was at the hospital with Tara which left me, uselessly trying to defend both myself and Dawn against a hellgod set on taking **your** sister" Xander said bitterly. By the time you and Buffy finally came home, Dawn and Glory were long gone and we never saw Dawn again. Without slayers attacking her, Glory had enough time to **really** plan an apocalypse. It seems that although the two gods she ruled her planet with overpowered her and sent her to our dimension, she still had a lot of loyal followers in her world just **waiting** for the opportunity to get her back as her ruler. Soon, our planet was taken over by Glory's friends and followers and some of them are far worse than even Glory herself. She went home for a while, but decided she had too much unfinished business here. After all, she could do what she liked here, nobody was opposing her and she has some grand plan we don't known about yet." Xander stared hard at Faith. "But in the meantime, her and her friends all need brains to eat and Glory has been demanding yours all day."

"They key is the link…" Buffy started mindlessly.

"She cared so much for Dawn." Xander said softly looking over at her. "She was so dedicated in trying to find a way to save her. She doesn't understand what's happened now, Dawn is constantly on the remainder of what's left of her mind mixed in with a whole lot of Glory brainwashing so it's all she can talk about. Caring about Dawn backfired on her though, led Glory straight to her." Xander said again.

"NO…no…" Faith moaned distressed. "This is worse than anything. The world is ending because of me."

"Nah." Xander said. "I don't blame you for anything **but** leaving us alone **without** a slayer and taking off on your own agenda. What good did it do anyway? Sure, you bought yourself some time to get **caught** without us slowing you down, but I don't see blue skies and puppies so whatever plan you had, whatever you tried to do couldn't have worked. The world as we know it is ending."

Suddenly, some of Glory's minions came in and seized Faith and Xander and carried them into the direction of Glory's chamber. They could hear her yelling inside, sounding pretty pissed off. "I came back for the other slayer brain. I want to feel that powerful rush again. Bring her to me. Now!" The minions scrambled to do her bidding.

Both Faith and Xander said goodbye to Buffy knowing that the next time they saw her they would **not** have the strength of mind to. They would spend their last few days together, but virtually unaware of each others presence and they would die a slow and painful death of starvation. Xander **almost** welcomed the brain suck, because at least then he couldn't ponder what he could have done differently and anticipate his and all his friends deaths. He didn't even know where they were holding Willow, Tara and Giles. He wanted to be in the dark, unaware of the pain he and his friends were in. Faith however, was far from his line of thinking. She was thrashing wildly trying desperately to escape. She felt in her pocket for the device and found it missing. Panicked she screamed for the red demon. "Take me **anywhere** but here! **REVERSE THE SPELL! TAKE ME BACK TO PRISON! I'M SORRY. I'M SORRY!" **She screamed as Glory's hands descended onto her skull and everything went black.

* * *

_Nobody panic! I'm not mean enough to let her die, lol._


	10. Chaos Theory

Faith found herself back in her prison cell back where this madness had all started, rocking back and forth on her knees screaming with a dozen inmates looking at her rolling their eyes assuming she was daydreaming or just making a fuss. Alternatively and far more annoying in their opinion, they thought she might be trying to get transferred to the more comfortable metal health ward attached to the prison. They did not seem to be able to see the red demon standing beside Faith, but Faith did not consider this strange. Someone who had the power to send her back in time could certainly make himself invisible in **her** opinion.

She stared at him. "You reversed the spell? You…you brought me back? He nodded to her. "Why?" She asked him confused.

"Because it was just downright depressing watching the world end, **all** because of you. I'm **not** the sort of demon who gets off on misery and pain. I gave the moment altering device to you because out of everyone I visited, **you** had the most regrets. **You** were in the most pain living with the guilt of your actions, so I thought you would do something **interesting**. But, I thought you had enough sense to do something harmless like a simple apology or visit your grandma or someone for some tea." He shrugged. 'I'm bored. I would have been entertained enough if you had just gone back and relieved a nice moment with Buffy, but no **not** you. Not Faith. You had to go and mess up the natural order of things. Don't you **know** not to mess with death? Don't you know what an offense that is to the higher powers? How about the chaos theory?" Faith shook her head. "The butterfly effect then?" He asked.

Faith shook her head again. "Never heard of it."

"It has been said that something as small as the flutter of a _butterfly's_ wing can ultimately cause a typhoon halfway around the world." He quoted. "With all the rewriting you did, its no wonder you caused the apocalypse! You just **can't** mess with death" He stressed each word carefully for her benefit.

"So…Allan Finch….I was **meant** to kill him." Faith asked confused.

"Yes, yes." The demon waved her off impatiently. "All deaths are planned and you can't cheat them. And if it feels like you cheated death you were meant to do so anyway…Willow was intended to raise Buffy." He added helpfully seeing Faith's expression.

"But I…I'm like **poison** to her." Faith said sadly. "No matter what I did, I hurt her…some times worse than others. Sometimes without her even knowing she was hurt **just** because **I** was there. When I'm around her and part of her world, she's got to be crippled or grieving or furious with me…or totally braindead!"

The demon stepped forward and put a clawed hand on her shoulder. "You sure got that right. It's **not** your time. It would only hurt her to go to her and be around her now. And that goes for anyone she is connected to. Flutter of a butterfly's wings, remember?"

"Like Willow…or Angel?" Faith asked.

"That's right. But **one** day, Faith, you'll be wanted, you'll be needed and you will be forgiven. The key is to stay here and wait it out. I'll tell you when its time."

"And then I won't hurt B?" Faith asked in a small voice.

"No." He told her gently. "As long as you **wait** here."

Sitting back down and drawing her knees back up to her chest she murmured "Waiting…waiting…I can do that. It's all I'm good for. I don't want to hurt anyone ever again."

"Its amazing how the world ended and no-one is the wiser." The demon commented. "I guess it's your **secret** to bear, Faith."

Faith was off in her own world and ignored this particular comment. "It's better this way." She said slowly. "It's hard, but its better this way. As long as B's okay."

The demon laughed. "Right now she's fine, now that she's **without** you. She's invisible, but fine." Faith looked at him with raised eyebrows. "Oh, don't worry. She'll tell you herself one day."

"She'll tell me one day." Faith repeated distractedly, suddenly very tired. She lay down on her prison bed, grateful it wasn't the floor of one of Glory's cells. "Uh…thank you for all your advice and stuff." She said awkwardly to the demon. "I know now that I got to accept things as they are. I can't change things myself yet, and its no good wondering what would happen if I did things differently. Cause now…" She grimaced. "I know the sort of things that would happen."

"Don't mention it." He said bowing to her and disappearing for now, leaving her alone with her thoughts and all the inmates in the vicinity wondering **why** she had been talking to herself.

* * *

_Never trust a demon! It's not over for Faith yet. _


	11. Crazy Days

_nathy.faithy__: Killing him would have been way safer, I agree… But then the story would have ended at Chapter 1. :P_

_Lynnicaec__: I decided to upload the last two chapters at once because the second last one sounded a bit like an ending too and I don't like to be confusing like that :)_

* * *

Nearly a week later

"Sir." Collins, a prison guard said to his boss Wallace who was the warden in charge. "Lehane's been at it for days now, should I call her emergency contacts? Collins had been watching Faith's behaviour for a while and was growing quite concerned for the girl. "They **should** know what's happening, that she's **cracking up**. I mean, she's been talking to herself **all** day. The nights are far worse, she wakes up screaming she's sorry to a person named 'B' as though she's relived some horrible nightmare that she can't escape. When she came here, she seemed to be doing okay. But something has sent her way over the edge and **traumatized** her. She's become more violent and just begs for a fight from the other innmates, but then she doesn't fight back. It's like she thinks she deserves the pain. I wouldn't normally report this to you, only I've noticed she seems to actually think there is another person in her cell that she is talking to. That's a sign of schizophrenia right? It's my duty to report that sort of thing. Maybe we should send her to the mental health ward? I honestly don't think she is faking."  
His superior Wallace furrowed his brow and took his time to speak. "I've already contacted her folks." He informed Collins. "I've got eyes myself, you know. We usually only talk to that 'Angel' guy but the girl who answered her contact number said he had gone away for a **long** time. She seemed devastated, though. She kept asking questions about her level of competency and whether she could handle simple instructions. It was almost like she had a secret mission to send her on and needed to know whether she could handle it or not, because not once did she ask about her health condition. Some friends." Wallace said gruffly in his deep voice, clearly sorry for Faith. "I like Lehane. She's trouble, but a nice kid on the wrong path, really. I was hoping that she'd make it through her sentence."

"Yeah. Guess she's not cut out for it." Collins said. "Got demons, or a sickness in her head. Making her crazy."

Wallace sighed. "I'll call some guards. She has to be moved to the health ward **immediately**. Her folks eventually agreed it was the best thing. I reckon we'll have some trouble keeping her there, so **sedation** is the way to go for a while. She's strong. We'll calm her down and let her be for a few weeks then we'll start the therapy."

"Hard to deal with shit getting you down in a cell. It'll be the best thing for her." Collins commented as Faith's glazed and glassy eyes turned towards them and she looked around for a **nonexistent** someone and seemed to find who it was she was looking for. It scared Collins how relieved she looked as soon as she did.

The guards walked in and quickly sedated her. They had expected a fight, but Faith appeared to have no interest in stopping them. In fact, she looked like she had given up altogether and had no resistance left. They led her into a padded room in her new ward, taking advantage of her mild state. The nurse gave her some tablets as a precaution. They were well aware how strong she was, and they weren't taking any chances. She needed to be completely under control.

"Hey this… room…these…tablets." Faith asked slowly finally acknowledging them. "Aren't they for… **crazy** people?

"Yes, dear." The nurse said disinterestedly.

Even in her slow state Faith came to the sudden realization. These people think **I'm** hallucinating, she thought. They think I've gone **insane**. Just because I'm taking advice from someone they can't see. Faith looked over at the red demon to make sure he was still there and hadn't left her all alone again. She didn't care what they thought, not really. Why would she? This room was nicer than her prison cell anyway, and she had no interest in leaving. Being sedated all the time was probably a whole lot better than trying to cope with the thoughts and dreams she constantly had after she had come back from the apocalypse version of Sunnydale. No, as long as the demon said she had to be here, she **would** stay, and let them do **whatever** they wanted to her. She thought she probably deserved it anyway.

Collins and Wallace just stared through the glass wall at her, wondering what sort of twisted mind games, Faith **defective** mind was experiencing. Adding **'paranoid schizophrenic**' to her file they then turned away and left to get back to their jobs, muttering to each other about leaving her to her hallucinations.


	12. Epilogue

"So she really was crazy then?" A young vampire asked.

"Minions, minions." The red demon scoffed. "Haven't you heard a word I said? Honestly, I don't **know** why I put up with you lot."

The red demon stretched himself out and looked to each of the eager admiring faces of the vampires he had gathered in a circle to tell his story to. He had felt like getting a bit of mindless appreciation from some lower beings today.

"She **wasn't** crazy." He continued with an evil grin. "But slayers, god! They usually always come out on top. And you kill one, then BAM the next one comes. Do you know how many carefully laid **masterful** plans have been ruined by **SLAYERS**?"

"Noooo?" The vampires all chorused.

The red demon ignored them. "You got to crush them, from the **INSIDE**. You got to make them **weak**. Think they are helpless. Make them think they are worthless and no good to anybody and then have them sedated and kept in a **very** safe place." He said proudly. "Boys, that is the way to truly conquer a slayer. And she…Faith…was too easy. She **already** had no confidence in herself and I chose her weakness well. The other slayer, Buffy. Nobody in this world matters to Faith more." He laughed an evil laugh. "I didn't project memories into her head, if I did she might have seen through their authenticity. No, I truly sent her back to moments and let her change them and consequently the future, and it all went **better** than I hoped!" The minions stared at him with utmost respect. "I knew what she would try to do, and how it would **break** her when she ended the world. I didn't want everything to **stay** that way though, who'd want Glory in charge? But it **was** necessary to keep it that way for a while before **reversing** the spell." He gloated.

"This is all just part of my plan. I can see the future and what it holds and I plan to have a confrontation with my 'Dad' the First Evil soon. I'm sure you vampires have heard of **me**. I got **more** mythology and pop culture working for me than Dracula has. The Devil is my known name, I am the true 'second evil' being created of this world. Not 'second best' but made with **improvements** if you ask me. I was happily ruling hell until it became clear to me what the First Evil planned to do in Sunnydale some time next year. Unlike The First, I am clairvoyant and can see the future. So here I am, stopping Faith from being able to cure Angelus to Angel again. Its going to be a party watching him slaughter for a while." He rubbed his clawed hands together in glee. "But minions, you see, if Angelus does **not** regain his soul then he will not be given the amulet to be worn by the champion that will destroy the Firsts plan. And even if he is given it, he will use it for **evil**. The Sunnydale kids will also be down a Slayer, I've got Faith here listening to **and** obeying my every word. I will keep Faith contained so by the time I finally let her loose, if I even do so **at all**… who knows I just **might** keep my promise, Sunnydale will be a completely different place." He laughed again. "Hey, Faith doesn't even know it, but she's **STILL** bringing on apocalypses but this time by **NOT** being there. And I can just sit back and watch my own evil **'butterfly effect'** take place and destroy the world as we know it." As his minions gaped in awe at his brilliance he grinned and bowed to them his trademark exit, and in a flash of red he was gone and back at Faith's side.

Of course he couldn't foresee everything, especially not the things his evil soulless self couldn't understand. He didn't know the power of the bond the chosen two shared and Buffy's ability to sense when Faith was over her head deep in trouble. He didn't know Buffy would eventually be suspicious enough to break into Faith's room and see Faith's 'hallucinations' for herself. When it came to Faith, Buffy was unpredictable, but there **was** hope. The demon may have created a way to bring Buffy to Faith and make the first steps towards reconciliation.

But for now he spent his days filling her head with tales of the hurt and destruction she would cause for all of the people she cared about if she was to **leave** the prison now and conveniently missing any positive details he saw in her future. He had clearly foreseen that without his influence, she **could** have helped save the world. But there was no way he was going to tell her that.

**The End **

* * *

_And FINALLY it ends… I tried to not make it too depressing and added at least some hope to my non-happy ending._

_I just want to thank everyone who reviewed this story again, it really encouraged me to keep going with this. Hope to see you again at my next story…I've got a pretty good idea of what to write about next. Glad you all liked this one! Tell me what you all thought of the ending :)_


End file.
